Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

thedailybeast.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 474 posts

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#181

Post by darepublic »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

Received a google home mini for xmas, was curious to see what I could do with it. On trying to play music, would not make http requests to youtube for me, wanted me to have Google Play account. Then I tried to query 'closest open pharmacy to my house' a dozen different ways but would not do it. If I could make queries of the nature I stated, and if these voice assistants would just stop trying to get me to download their apps and make http requests to public sites for me, it would blow things wide open!

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#182

Post by intrasight »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

If your time is that valuable, just hire someone to come once a week for a couple hours to do those things. In your lifetime, it will always be cheaper than a robot. Plus a real human being will be more pleasant to converse with.

Alternatively, multitask and listen to the news or an audiobook while you do your household chores.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#183

Post by atupis »

sixdimensional wrote: post #118
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

Actually, I'm not a product designer or engineer, but I feel like I have an idea for #1, and I'm interested in doing it, even for myself. Maybe it's something like "dishwasher v2.0", I 'm not sure. I basically want a standard set of plates, bowls, cups and silverware, which is designed to work with an automated washing box that has slots (or maybe holders) for each to be deposited inside. The idea is, you use the ite…

If you would add some kind washer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dish_drying_cabinet you would get this.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#184

Post by bigiain »

glangdale wrote: post #179
mahmud wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one that washes dishes immediately after use? No need to even use the machine. Wash immediately after use, let them dry on rack, wipe and put away. Dishes and laundry are a total non-issue.

Note that this is almost certainly less efficient in terms of time, water use and energy use, than using a modern dishwasher. The other benefit we find of using a dishwasher in a family is that the dishwasher produces a consistent and good result as compared to a 8-12 year old trying to hand-wash, and kids can be trained to competently unload things if you store plates and glasses "low". So the aggregate effort for p…

Household of one checking in. I eat at home maybe 6 or 8 times a week.If I eat breakfast at home, I'll usually just drop the bowl or plate int he sink and fill it with water, then wash it while doing my dinner plate if I eat at home that night, or while waiting on the coffee machine the next morning. Mostly I wash dinner cooking utensils as I go, and my cutlery and crockery after I'm done (Friday or Saturday nights if I've eaten at home, they'll sometimes sit in the sink overnight...)

When I entertain, I deal with things as required. (Admittedly not often...)

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#185

Post by intrasight »

barsonme wrote: post #151
Trav5 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a clever idea on the internet for #1. Get two dish washers. One is always clean, one dirty. Eliminating the need to unload and put away dishes.

That sorta sounds great... if you're a bachelor. I doubt my SO would be very impressed if I ditched the cupboards for another dishwasher.

The two dishwasher thing is getting traction. Cupboards are just another place to accumulate things you don't need.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#186

Post by pymai »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

would you settle for a drip dry shelf over the sink? it solves the dry and put them away part and just leaves the washing part which can be made a lot easier by doing the following:

- before you leave anything in the sink, quickly rinse it if there is anything on it that will go hard

- washing with gloves on is easier since you can have the water boiling hot which means in turn does most of the work

- or install a double sink. leave things soak in 1 sink so most stuff will just fall off, then in most cases all you have left to do is rinse it

- if there is still some gunk left on them then one of those jet taps would help

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#187

Post by intrasight »

torpfactory wrote: post #90
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

There’s an easy way to cut down on laundry - wear your clothes multiple times between cleanings.... honestly I usually wear jeans 2-3 days between washes. Everything else is single day only... except when I go backpacking and then wear the same thing for a week straight. The smell is... complex.

There's an even easier way. Work at home naked.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#188

Post by shostack »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

I thought that too about vacuuming before I got my Neato Botvac D5. Life changing. Now I just tidy up the floor, and push a button.

Their latest update lets it map your home. While some might have privacy concerns, it is admittedly a very cool feature to me as I can see exactly where it did and did not clean.

Ultimately, it saves me time, and my time is valuable. So I'd rather spend less time cleaning and more time doing other things, even if I technically am capable of doing the cleaning.

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#189

Post by pymai »

torpfactory wrote: post #90
bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

There’s an easy way to cut down on laundry - wear your clothes multiple times between cleanings.... honestly I usually wear jeans 2-3 days between washes. Everything else is single day only... except when I go backpacking and then wear the same thing for a week straight. The smell is... complex.

in most cases, the only reason your clothes get smelly is if you get smelly, so cleaning yourself more often might help. you dont have to shower every day, but cleaning the key areas does help and can easily be done just using the sink and warm water.

even socks will last a lot longer if you just quickly wash your feet every morning or twice a day if you have the time

Re: CES Was Full of Useless Robots and Machines That Don’t Work

#190

Post by dsnuh »

bane wrote: post #5

Here's what I want robots to do: 1) Wash my dishes, dry them and put them away completely automatically. 2) Wash and dry my clothes, fold them and put them away completely automatically. These two things would save me hours of work per week. FoldiMate simply isn't even close to being good enough, but I'd be willing to spend about that much for a robot that could do #2. I can vacuum my floor by myself and greet people…

I feel like the solution to these problems might be to use something like rapid 3D printing technology to create and recycle the dishes or clothing.

The dish machine would print using a biodegradable material that could either be recycled back into the machine for reprinting or composted if it is unable to be cleaned.

For clothing I imagine a knitting machine that prints 3D garments on demand using fibers and can also recycle the clothing to reuse the fibers at the end of the wear cycle.

Edit: my main point being that I don't see these being technically solvable using the legacy methods we have created thus far. Why try to make a machine complex enough to identify and fold specific clothing? Why not create a machine that can create something very basic and we adjust our expectations and style.

Post reply on HN